Root of the Barbarians

Note to my readers: If you are looking for the rhubarb recipe or canning directions, scroll to the bottom of this entry.

For North of 60 gardeners, spring and early summer in the Yukon is a time of planting, weeding and fretting over one's tender wards.
I moved to Whitehorse in April, just in time to catch the last (please let it be the last) blizzard of the season. In the first weeks I was here I watched the Yukon River slowly extricate itself from the heavy blanket of ice that the winter had laid down, and marvelled at the tenacity of the snowy shelves which held on well into May.
As soon as the sun started shining in earnest, I started thinking about a garden. Coming from Vancouver, I was used to a fairly laid-back form of food and flower cultivation. You pretty much drop some seeds into the ground, water and wait. Within a few months, sometimes even a few weeks, voila! Furry carrots tops, snappy peas or hearty kale leaves would come springing up. Not so in the Yukon.
Here a gardener is wise to have a greenhouse, and a c'est la vie attitude, if she wants to come into the fall with a decent harvest and unbruised morale.
I, naive cheechako that I am (cheechako is yukon slang for someone who hasn't been through a winter north of 60), figured that I could put a full day's work into planting and be rewarded with fresh veggies throughout the summer. Not so. I will have to wait until the end of July at the earliest to taste the vegetables of my labour. Which is not to say that I haven't had a bit of luck. I call her Rhubarb.
Rhubarb grows wild in the yards, alleyways and parks of Whitehorse. Several local gardeners have told me of their ongoing battles for space with ruebarbarum or "Barbarians' Root", but for me, it has been a great boon.
North of 60, the rhubard stalks do not turn the wonderful fusia that they do down south. They stay mostly green except for at the very base, and they are stringier and more bitter than their southern mates. But they grow with a vengence and that alone makes them my nominee for Vegetable of the Year (many think rhubarb is a fruit, probably because it is commonly featured in pies and jams).
My first harvest yielded 18 cups, or about 4.5 lbs of Rhubarb stalk. The leaves are inedible, poisonous in fact. My mother experimented with laying them down around her bean patches to keep the slugs away. I don't remember if it worked. I simply put mine on the compost pile.
The easiest and most delicious thing to make with rhubard is compote. This is basically a runny sort of jam which makes a great topping for icecream, cheescake or any other creamy dessert. It is tangy and sweet, and best of all, dead easy to make. If you are making this in the Yukon, I recommend adding a handful of high or lowbush crannberries to add some colour --- otherwise you may end up with a green dessert. Stawberries are another yummy addition. If the fruit you are adding is sweet enough, you shouldn't have to add any more sugar.

You will need: (starred ingredients are necessary, others are optional)
4 lbs or 16 cups rhubard stalk, washed and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces*
2 heaping cups of granulated sugar*
Juice of 1 large orange
Juice of 1 lemon (this cuts down on the amount of sugar you will need)
4 cups water*(use less if you want a thicker, more jammy consistency)
1 tsp cardamom (this adds a nice complexity of flavour)
2 tsp vanilla (several people have advised I use a vanilla bean instead, but I haven't tried that yet. Let me know if you do)
1 tsp coarse salt

>>>You can reduce this recipe by half or quarter, no problem.

Method:
Toss everything into a pot over medium heat and stir until the rhubarb is soft and begins to break up.
That's it!

If you've made a full batch, you will probably want to can or freeze some for the winter. Canning is ridiculously easy, as I learned when I called my mother to say: I just cooked 5 pounds of rhubarb, now what the heck do I do with it?

Canning supplies:
Jars with snap lids (the amount you need will depend on the size of the jars. I filled a 15 10 oz jars with this recipe)
Big pot of boiling water.
Tongs
Clean cloth

Method:
Put as many jars and lids as you can in the boiling water so that they are all submerged.
Let boil for a few minutes so everything sterilizes. Every time you remove a jar and lid, replace it. Keep track so you know which ones have been in for a while and which ones need more time.
Take out a jar with you tongs. Fill with HOT rhubarb mix (it must be hot), wipe the rim so it is completely clean of any rhubarb smudges. screw the top on all the way, then back a quarter turn. Repeat. Repeat .Repeat until all your compote is gone. Let the jars stand. after about 45 minutes you will hear them *POP* This is the sound of the snap-lid sucking in and sealing the jar. After the lid has popped, you can tighten the screw-top. Your compote should be stored in a cool dark pantry, where is will stay good for several years...if you can stop from eating is all.